A Place to Save Young Souls
by Half-Blind Otaku
Summary: Waking up in an unfamiliar setting, Weiss' last memory is a painful one, but it provides her no explanation as to the strange school in which she finds herself. Here, surrounded by people and yet all alone, she meets Yuzuru Otonashi; he's been here a long time...


**Author's Note: Okay, so this is an idea I've had for a while now, so I figured that I'd give it a shot because **_**Angel Beats! **_**just seems to be one of those shows uniquely set to host a crossover story. This is set after the ending of the last episode of **_**Angel Beats!**_** (Although it precedes that bit after the credits) and features Yuzuru Otonashi and Weiss Schnee. Incidentally, I am in no way affiliated with Key/Visual Arts, PA Works, Rooster Teeth, Jun Maeda, or Monty Oum; I do however own copies of both DVDs.**

* * *

Weiss Schnee woke up.

Taking several sudden deep breaths, she blinked a few times and sat up, looking around in bewilderment, "Where…?"

Her heart stopped.

"How...? I… I should be…"

Dismissing the thought from her mind with a shake of her head, she stood and surveyed her surroundings. It wasn't Beacon, that much was certain – in fact, she'd woken on the ground, _outside, _at the top of a set of stairs leading down to a… track? Across the way could be seen several utilitarian, if nondescript buildings, in and out of which there appeared to be students going about their business. Their uniforms weren't like those of Beacon academy, but school uniforms they were nonetheless, so she could conclude with reasonable confidence that this was indeed a school… Signal Academy perhaps? She'd never actually asked Ruby or Yang about their former combat school, but somehow she didn't think that the school on whose grounds she currently found herself was that one; as far as she could see beyond the grounds did not appear to be Vale, the uniforms were hardly designed for… _Wait a minute!_

Turning her gaze abruptly down upon herself, Weiss was mildly horrified by the outfit which she'd awoken wearing. Much like the female students that she could see across the way, milling in, out, and around the school buildings, she was wearing a dull yellowish off-whitish sweater and ordinary light blue pleated skirt, and not boots, but just ordinary shoes and going halfway up to her knees. Worst of all… her hair was down, and there was no sign of so much as a clip on her person.

She frowned, "Well at least the skirt is nice…" she tugged on it gingerly, "Not terribly sturdy though…"

Then her eyes went wide as she realized something else was missing; looking down at her hip she saw that Myrtenaster was indeed gone.

"Ugh…" She rubbed her temples to alleviate the mounting headache, "Where am I and _what is going on?_" Heaving as sigh, she shook her head again, "Oh never mind… I'll just go ask someone…" Not two steps later though, she halted herself in her progress towards the stairs, "But… No… you're obviously fine," she chided herself, "Now get moving Weiss; questions don't answer themselves,"

Taking a deep breath, Weiss continued forward, down the steps and towards the buildings and students, hoping to find someone who could explain what was going on. She came to a halt again at the edge of the track to watch, somewhat flustered, as what appeared to be a track team ran past on their laps. After blinking a few times as the last of them passed her by, Weiss continued and eventually found herself at what appeared to be the nearest entrance to one of the school buildings.

"Um… Excuse me," Weiss tried to approach some of the students exiting the building, "Could you tell me where this is? And which way I need to go to get back to Vale?"

The two girls to whom she had addressed the question cocked their heads quizzically – and in almost perfect unison, looking at her like she had six heads, "You're at school silly,"

Weiss sighed, "Yes, I can see that I'm at _a _school, but I'm not familiar with this school-,"

"Of course you are…" the second, seemingly equally perplexed girl cut in, "I mean… you're wearing the uniform…"

"Well I…" Weiss made to object, but it was true; but perhaps for what sort of socks some of the other female students wore, she was wearing the exact same outfit as the other girls, "I suppose I am…"

"We…. We have to go…" The first of the two spoke again, "Class in ten minutes so… bye…"

With that, Weiss was left there to stew in her confusion for a moment before attempting to flag someone else down and hopefully get a more helpful answer, "Excuse me- yes, you there, my name is Weiss Schnee, as in the Schnee Dust company-,"

"What's that?"

"What do you mean, 'what's that'?" Weiss demanded incredulously, "It's one of the largest producers of Dust on-!"

Weiss was interrupted by the infuriating sound of snickering behind her back, and the perhaps even more irksome look that came from repressing a smirk on the face of the girl she was talking to, "What's this about gathering dust?"

Weiss' right eye twitched as she tried to contain her anger and exasperation, "You know what? Never mind; I'm sorry to have wasted your time…"

As this next girl passed her by to join a group of other students headed for the next building over Weiss stepped inside and leaned up against the nearest wall to gather her thoughts, _Okay Weiss, think: you wake up mid-day on the ground, wearing a school uniform, but it's not from Beacon… The Schnee Dust company apparently isn't a household name her… Come to think of it, neither did that girl seem to even know what Dust was… What is this place?"_

She looked over the all the people moving about in her view as she mulled over what she'd learned from the brief exchanges. No one seemed to be armed, be they students or faculty, so this probably wasn't a combat school-

"Young lady," It was a man's voice, belonging to an older gentlemen with greying hair, "Classes resume in five minutes; come now, can't be late,"

"Wha-,"

"Come now young lady, I'll not have you missing my class; history is important,"

"I..." The familiar words of Professor Oobleck left her silent as she was escorted to an unfamiliar classroom, regardless of the fact that she had never seen the man before.

Once ushered into the classroom filled with rows of desks, the teacher motioned to the seat at the farthest desk to the right in the front row, nearest to the entrance, "That will be your seat," He explained, "First though, you'll have to introduce yourself to the class, seeing as you are a new student,"

"What?" Weiss gawked, "N-no I'm not! I attend Beacon-!"

"Ladies and gentlemen, from today onwards, we will be having a new student. As such, I would kindly ask that you give her your undivided attention while she introduces herself,"

"But-," A few of the students waiting inside were still standing by each other's desks talking, but most were seated, and almost all were presently staring at her. She sighed and gave in, there would be time enough to sort this out later, she supposed, "I… My name is Weiss Schnee…"

"How do you write that?"

"Are you like, German, or something?"

"What do you use to keep your hair that nice?"

"I… Uh…" Weiss was a bit overwhelmed by the volume and scope of the questioning, and slightly unnerved by the perplexingly honest interest that seemed to be reflected in her 'classmates.' Thinking that she could answer the questions in order, she turned to the blackboard behind her and picked up a piece of chalk, only to freeze at the sight of the scribbled hieroglyphics chalked onto the board, _What do these symbols mean? _

"Um… Sir?" Weiss asked, oddly embarrassed despite herself, "I… I can't read this…"

"Just write your name in whatever script you're comfortable with Miss Schnee,"

Weiss just stared at him for a few moments before letting her shoulders slump and she eventually wrote her name as bidden and turned around and looked back over the students before her. She was about to say something, _anything _to cause the stares to abate, but the teacher spoke again first.

"Mr. Otonashi, I am sure that your new classmate would appreciate it if you showed her respect enough to pay attention to her introduction,"

"What? Oh, sorry sir, I'll…"

It was a boy seated towards the back on the left-hand side of the classroom. On the one hand, Weiss' ego told her that she should be indignant that this dolt had the gall to ignore _her, _but then now that he was paying attention… it meant another set of eyes scrutinizing her as she continued to feel woefully out of place. Curiously though, this Otonashi had a different uniform from the other male students; rather than the dark jacket over a white button-up shirt worn by all of the other boys in the classroom, he wore a light-colored sweater like… like the one she- and all the other _female _students, were wearing, _What is his deal?_

He stood as his eyes met hers, "Kanade?"

Weiss looked over her shoulder to check, but there was no one standing behind her; this Otonashi appeared to be talking to her, "No… My name is Weiss…"

He stood there in stunned silence for a moment as some of their classmates looked on in curiosity, though most of them seemed to ignore the exchange. Eventually though, he blinked, recovering his wits and returned to his seat, "Sorry…"

"Yes well, feel free to take your seat Miss Schnee," The teacher instructed, and still very much confused, Weiss obeyed.

For about an hour, Weiss sat through the 'history' class, but it was all wrong; no Faunus War, nothing about the founding of the four kingdoms… History was her best subject, and she'd never heard of any of this. While she instinctually took notes with her left and, her mind was elsewhere, namely on that Otonashi boy who didn't seem to be wearing the right uniform.

_He seems to be wearing part of a girl's uniform… _Weiss thought as the teacher said 'as such' for the fifth time that class period, _Is he confused or just some sort of creeper? Then again… _she cast a surreptitious glance over her shoulder at all the other students, _They don't seem to care… And neither does the teacher…_

Eventually though, the bell rang, thus wresting her from her musings. The other students got up, filing out of the classroom, and the teacher said something to her about how it was understandable that she'd been late or gotten lost on her first day, but that she'd have to show up for more than just her last class of the day tomorrow, but Weiss wasn't really listening then either. Instead, she was glancing over the man's shoulder to get another look at this Otonashi as she nodded her perfunctory understanding to the teacher, who then took his own leave. When the classroom was mostly empty though, she moved to approach the atypically dressed boy.

"Excuse me, Otonashi, was it?"

He looked up at her, still not having gotten up from his seat, "Uh… yeah…"

Weiss took a moment to consider her words carefully this time; it wouldn't do to repeat the results from her previous attempts to get some answers, but unsure of what to say to that end, the words just sort of spilled out, "Is… there a reason you're wearing a girl's uniform sweater?"

Otonashi blinked a few times as he looked down at himself, and then at Weiss, "Huh… You know… I honestly don't think I ever noticed… It's definitely something Yuri would have done though…"

"Hmm?"

He shook his head as he stood, "It's nothing; I was just… the uniform was different for my old class…"

"I see…" This wasn't getting her anywhere, so she decided to roll the dice on the direct approach again, "I'll just be honest with you… I don't think I'm supposed to be here; I don't suppose you know _where this school is, _exactly?"

This seemed to provoke a mirthless laugh, "I couldn't tell you, but you're definitely _not _and NPC, so… I'd say you _are supposed to be here…_"

"I beg your pardon?"

He sighed, "Why don't you come with me; we've got a lot to talk about,"

* * *

Weiss eyed the can that Otonashi handed her from the vending machine with a raised eyebrow, "Is this… coffee?"

"Key Coffee, so I'm told," He answered with a half-smile, "It's pretty good though,"

With a sigh, Weiss opened the can and took a sip, then winced and set the can back down, "It's… _really sweet… _Not my thing I'm afraid, but Ruby would…"

"Remembering an old friend?"

Weiss shook her head, "Old friend? Nonsense, Ruby and I are still _very much-_,"

"What was the last thing you remember before you woke up here?" he cut her off, though his face bespoke something between patience and exhaustion.

Weiss fell silent.

"Do you not remember anything? I was like that too-,"

"No… I… I remember… but I can't be remembering right…"

"You sure about that?" It wasn't a question.

"But if that really… I should be…"

Otonashi nodded, leaning on the rail that hemmed the rooftop in, "This is the place where I first learned what this place was too, but I had to be told…"

Weiss felt her blood run cold, "But then… How?"

Otonashi shrugged, "That, I'm afraid, I couldn't tell you; all the people I've known here wound up here for their own reasons," he took a sip of his coffee and sighed, "I'm guessing you weren't quite satisfied with your life though,"

Weiss was quiet again.

"It's okay; as far as I know, people don't wind up here otherwise- well, most people don't…"

Weiss' hands went to the railing to steady herself, "I can't believe it… You're saying that… that I _died?_"

"Yeah," he nodded, "It sucks, I know,"

"But… but I feel…" No, she didn't feel _fine, _but… "Alive…"

He nodded his understanding, "So do I, but then…" he grabbed one of her hands and pressed her fingers to his wrist.

Initially she wanted to recoil and slap him for his presumption, but the breath meant for the accompanying reprimand caught in her throat as she realized that he didn't have a pulse.

Otonashi gave a sad little smile as he let her go, speechless, "The last thing _I _did before I died was to volunteer as a heart donor, so wouldn't you know it, I still don't have a heart," He chuckled, more sincerely this time, "I learned that the hard way though,"

"You can't be serious…" The words came out without conviction though.

Otonashi shrugged, "You felt the evidence,"

Weiss' hands moved to rub her temples as the sheer weight of all she'd just been told really set in. It was just preposterous! It couldn't be true but… there it was…

"Is… is everyone…?"

"No," he answered, picking up her meaning, "Right now at least, it's just you and me. The rest of the people you see are what we call 'NPC's"

"What?"

"They're…" He searched for the best way to explain, "They're kind of like part of the scenery… they can hold a conversation but…"

He didn't need to finish; suddenly the outcomes of her attempts to talk to the other students made sense, "NPCs, huh?" but then something else about what he said stuck out, "Wait a minute, _we?_"

Otonashi leaned back against the railing again, "There used to be others like us here,"

"_Used to be?_" she asked, "What happened?"

"They moved on,"

"What do you…"She trailed off; she knew that look in his eyes, it was all too familiar, "How long have you been… alone here?"

"I uh… I lost track, to be honest…"

There was a long silence between them then. The air itself seemed aware of the tension, perfectly still as it was. The only thing to be heard at all was the sound of the chant from a ways off where the track team was practicing again, an observation made somewhat unnerving by the idea that they were all set-dressing, to a man. Under any other set of circumstances, the scenery would have seemed peaceful, idyllic even, if it weren't for the fact that it was all… a lie? No, that wasn't it… but…

"Can I ask you something?" Otonashi asked, interrupting her musings, "You don't have to answer if you don't want to though,"

"S-sure…"

"How did you die?"

"I…" Weiss chewed her lip, she didn't want to think about it; the memory was a hazy one, but she did remember some details. The last thing she recalled before she'd awoken was a flock of Nevermores, their projectile feathers hammering against her rapidly splintering barrier glyph, "It was… I must have blacked out first…"

A thoughtful look played over Otonashi's face, but it didn't quite supplant the… _tired _expression that he'd worn the whole time, "That so?"

She nodded, glad she didn't remember any grizzly details, frankly.

Otonashi was quiet for a moment, seeming to be mulling something over before he finally spoke, "It's getting late; we should head to the cafeteria and get something to eat…"

"Wait, we have to eat? Didn't you say we're… well… you know?"

He chuckled, "You catch on quick,"

"Of course I do!" Weiss huffed indignantly, "I was the top of my class for a reason!"

Otonashi couldn't help another little chortle, "Right, I'll remember that then, but to answer your question, no, we don't _have to eat; _it isn't like we'll starve, but… There's this really good Mapu Tofu they serve in the cafeteria… I make a point to have it every day…"

Weiss let out a sigh, "Alright then, lead the way; I still don't know my way around here after all,"

* * *

Weiss squeezed her eyes shut as the tears welled up, spilling down onto her cheeks as she choked back the urge to outright cry, _A Schnee doesn't cry Weiss! But… It's SO SPICY!_

"Yeah I thought so too at first," The boy didn't need to read minds to know what was going through hers at the moment, "But you've just gotta move past that. Have some rice with it; it helps, trust me,"

"H-how can you even eat this?"

"It was her favorite food…"

Weiss set her spoon down, "Who?"

Otonashi shook his head, coming back to himself, "It's nothing, never mind,"

Weiss' eyes narrowed slightly, but she didn't press the issue; she knew a painful memory when she saw one, so instead she changed the subject, "So… what do you do here?"

Otonashi took another bite of the absurdly spicy tofu as he thought it over, "Not much really… I go to classes to pass the time each day, maybe chat with some of the NPCs from time to time… It's not the same as talking to normal people though…"

"That's it?" Weiss asked in disbelief, leaning forward in her seat , "You've been here _how long? _And that's _all you do?_"

"Pretty much, yeah," He admitted, "We used to get into all kinds of trouble… You should have seen GlDeMo…"

"Huh?"

"GlDeMo; they were a rock band, and they were really good,"

Weiss glanced about the room at the NPCs seated around them, "Really? These… NPCs… they don't seem that lively…."

He laughed, "Nah, GlDeMo weren't NPCs… The NPCs loved them though… They were just _that good,_" He took another bite before he continued, "But anyway… I just don't know what to do with myself here – I'm not creative enough I guess, but that's no reason that you have to do the same. If you really wanted to, you could have a lot of fun here. I just don't have many hobbies, I guess, you?"

"Hobbies?"

"What did you used to do for fun"

"…"

"You a work-a-holic too, huh?" He smiled a bit, "All I did was study for the last year or so of my life; I was gonna be a doctor…"

"I was training to be a huntress…"

Otonashi raised an eyebrow, but said nothing as she continued.

"In all likelihood though, I was going to take over Father's company at some point…"

"I see…" a mixed look of interest and reluctance on his face, "Must've been stuffy growing up then… I mean… I don't know what a huntress is but-,"

"No, I suppose you wouldn't," Weiss rolled her eyes, "The NPCs don't know what Dust is , of course you don't know what a huntress is! I suppose you'll say you've never heard of the Grimm either?"

Otonashi blinked a few times, "You mean the guys who wrote those creepy German fairy tales?"

It was Weiss' turn to blink furiously, "What? Oh never mind! Plainly we aren't from the same place,"

"I could've told you that," Otonashi smirked, "Weiss Schnee isn't exactly a Japanese name,"

"Japanese? Is that what you call those… those _hieroglyphics _on all the chalkboards and in the books here?" Weiss demanded.

Otonashi laughed, "I guess you don't read Kanji then…"

"But then…" Weiss' brow furrowed as she considered the implications, "If you speak and read this 'Japanese' and I clearly don't, how come we can understand each other?"

Otonashi shrugged, "You got me there; as long as I've been here, I still don't understand all the rules,"

Weiss sighed, slumping in her seat, "I think I'm getting a headache,"

"I was the same way at first too," he nodded understandingly before clearing his plate, "Anyhow, when you finish, you should go find your dorm; no sense in wasting the places perks, right?"

A few memories of Ruby, Yang, and Blake ran through her mind. She didn't want to admit it, even to herself, but knowing she'd never see them again… It hurt.

"Hello? You still there Weiss?"

"What? Oh… Sorry…" She shook her head, "You said something about a dorm?"

"Yeah," He nodded, somewhat concerned, "Are you sure that you're alright?"

Weiss nodded, regardless of the truth, and stood, "I'm fine. Could you… show me to my dorm?"

"Well…" He hesitated, "Not really… Guys aren't allowed in the girls' dorm building…"

Weiss cocked her head, "They're separate?"

"Of course…" Otonashi looked puzzled, "Every student has their own room, but the boys' rooms and the girl's rooms are separate; one of the NPCs could help you though,"

She glanced apprehensively at the nearest group of girls a table over, "Really? They're not going to treat me like I've got six heads?"

He laughed, "Not if you just ask for help finding your dorm, no," He offered a hand to shake, "See you tomorrow?"

"Sure,"

* * *

Weiss made a point of trying to learn this 'Kanji' that everyone here seemed to use, and upon learning of them from Otonashi, she set herself to the task of trying to comprehend 'Hiragana' and 'Katakana' as well. What was most baffling though, was that apparently all three of these separate writing systems were for the _same language! _It was absolutely preposterous! Nevertheless, she did eventually get a handle on it, albeit with some help from the uncannily efficient NPC English teacher. As far as everyone else was concerned, Weiss had apparently been assigned the role of a foreign exchange student, and thus the teachers proved very accommodating to her difficulties with the reading. Around the time she got to the point that she could read the board and textbooks unassisted though, she got the nagging sense that this wasn't what she should be focusing her efforts on; sure, the place looked like a school, and all of the 'NPCs' _acted like it was a school, _but after observing the unrepentant disregard that Otonashi showed for the task of actually _completing the assignments_, however religiously he attended class, she noted that there wouldn't be any actual consequences for simply ignoring the class so long as she didn't make a nuisance of herself. Once she reached this realization though, she found it harder and harder to distract herself from the reality of her situation.

_I… died…_

It was a less horrifying thought than she thought it should have been all told; her training as a huntress had always gone hand in hand with the possibility. What she hadn't given due consideration, apparently, was that she'd be able to remember… and _regret _after she died. She'd lost her precious few friends now, not that she really deserved to have them in the first place… It was with some bitterness that she arrived at the conclusion that her being dead wasn't so different from the way that she'd lived before Beacon, even despite the absence of family expectations now; she was alone again either way.

There was this Otonashi boy, yes, but though he was certainly more engaging than any of the 'NPCs,' well... that didn't amount to much, all told. They'd talked a few more times in the time since Weiss had arrived, indeed starting with the very next day, but he always seemed distant, and over time these conversations became less and less frequent. In all fairness, Weiss was distant too, and she knew that she was isolating herself at least as much as she was being avoided.

So it was that after a series of empty days and restless nights that Weiss found herself strolling the campus one night, unable to sleep, and not particularly wanting to. The lonely void in her heart was a familiar one, but it hurt so much more now that she'd known its absence at Beacon, however briefly, compounded by the resignation to the fact that she wouldn't see any of her teammates and friends again.

"_Mirror…"_

How long had it been since she'd sung this? It had been a while, but not so long that she'd forgotten the words.

"_Tell me something…" _

She found herself walking past a garden of flowerbeds at one end of the school grounds; the flowers would have been lovely, had she only been in a state of mind such that she could care.

"_Tell me who's the loneliest of all..." _

It was such a selfish song, she realized upon reflection; Ruby, Blake, Yang, Team JNPR… any and all of them would have been well within their rights to abandon her for the way she'd treated them in the beginning, and it was only through their patience with her that she could ever have claimed friendship with them. She really had no right to complain about losing them now. Then there was Otonashi; how long had he been here all by himself? She recognized the undercurrent of pain whenever he spoke… Surely he had more right to be so lonely than she did but… _It just hurt so much…_

"_Mirror… What's inside me?"_

Selfish. That was the only word that truly described her, and she knew it; she hadn't chosen to become a huntress so that she could help people, she'd done it to gain a little freedom for herself. Otonashi had wanted to be a doctor apparently… Next to that… she was just awful…

"_Tell me, can this heart be turned to stone?"_

But she couldn't just _not feel anything _anymore. Misery heaped upon silent misery had once numbed her to the sadness, but now having happy memories against which to juxtapose… once the tears started, they just wouldn't stop, no matter how much she knew she didn't deserve to cry.

"_Mirror, mirror, what's behind you? Save me from the things I see…" _

But it was too late for that now.

"_I can hide it from the world, why won't you let me hide from me?" _

Perhaps this was just punishment.

"_Mirror, mirror…. Tell me something, who's the loneliest of all?" _

Selfish though it was, she couldn't convince herself not to feel this way.

"_I'm the loneliest of all…"_

She brought a sleeve up to her eyes to dry her tears, finding herself amidst several beds of marigolds, "None of that Weiss…" she forced out, "You reap what you sow, I guess…"

"I won't ask if you're alright…"

Weis froze, startled; she'd been staring up at the perplexingly whole moon, so lost in her thoughts and sorrows that she'd only barely notices the flowerbeds around her, and had completely overlooked Otonashi from the other side of the flower patch until he'd stood up and spoken.

"Clearly, you're not… but then if you were… you wouldn't be here," he finished, letting out a sigh, "That was a beautiful song though… sad, but beautiful.."

"I…" she stammered, reddening as she tried to hide the trails of tears, the stubborn pride of which she was so ashamed welling up into anger, "What are _you _doing here?"

But Otonashi smiled, "Weeding and the like," he held up a pair of garden sheers, "I kinda decided to take care of these after…" he trailed off.

"After _they _left?" Weiss guessed beginning to compose herself as she shifted the focus of the conversation from herself.

"Yeah,"

"How?"

"What?" He cocked his head in puzzlement.

"How did they move on?" She clarified, "And what happened to them?"

"Oh…" He squeezed his eyes shut, "I don't know what happens when they pass on but, well… You don't end up here if you were happy with your life… usually…"

"So what? They just all decided thy were happy with their lives and _left?_" Weiss demanded in disbelief, "Where did they go?"

Otonashi shrugged, "I don't really know, but when someone makes peace with their past life… that's usually it…"

Weiss didn't want to ask the next question, but she did anyway, "So then… what's keeping _you _here?"

Otonashi sat down on the side of the nearest planter, "What indeed?"

Frustrated by the non-answer, Weiss groaned, "Fine then, don't tell me…" then she remembered the tears staining her cheeks and reddened anew, "I swear, if you tell _anyone _that I was-,"

He chortled, "Who am I going to tell? An NPC?"

Weiss fell silent.

Otonashi heaved a sigh, as if resigning himself to something that he didn't really want to do, "Tell you what, why don't you meet me in the gym after classes tomorrow? I'll show you something interesting to pass the time with,"

Weiss raised an eyebrow, "What kind of _interesting?_"

He smirked, "Think of it as a… reflex test… yeah, that's probably the best word for it…"

* * *

"Right, so back here-," Otonashi grunted as he pulled a rack of chairs out from under the stage, "We have the door to what we use to call the Guild…"

"You used to huddle under the stage to test your reflexes?" Weiss asked, eyebrow raised as he finished pulling the chairs out of the way.

"Something like that… Come on,"

Weiss rolled her eyes, but ducked under the stage and followed him anyway, and through the door that he'd revealed, quickly finding herself in a broad, downward sloping corridor, "Wha-? How did this get here?"

"The others carved this place out before I got here," Otonashi shrugged, "But this is just the tip of the iceberg…" With that, he started down the corridor beckoning her to follow after him, "There's a ways to go, but-,"

Weiss was about to take her first somewhat begrudging step after him when suddenly, down from the ceiling swung a preposterously large mallet, utterly blindsiding him and slamming him into the wall. "Oh my God! Are you alright?" She hurried over and dragged him out of the way as the comically massive hammer withdrew, "Come on, speak to me!"

Otonashi groaned, but forced a smile, "I'm-, AGGG that smarts! I'll be okay… Hurts like hell but…" He struggled back to his feet, starting to shake it off, "Since we're already dead… Well it's not like we can die _again…_"

"But…" Weiss stammered, dumbfounded, "You were just hit with a giant _hammer!_"

"Yeah…" he scratched the back of his head, plainly embarrassed, "I kinda forgot that one was there…"

"Y-you shouldn't forget things like _that!_"

Otonashi laughed, "Y'know… I said the exact same thing more than a few times on my first trip down here…" He shook the pain out again with a wince, but then started onward again, "Let's keep going, just… watch your step…"

Weiss just stood blinking a few times, _What kind of madhouse is this?_

* * *

"Ceiling-mounted hammers, giant rolling boulders, floors that fall away, collapsing ceilings, flooding traps, and _lasers? Seriously?_" Weiss fumed as Otonashi, equally sodden but not so flustered about it, led her out into the debris-filled room, "And to guard a miserable _scrap heap? _Even were that _gauntlet _not completely _absurd-_,"

"It's a long story," Otonashi cut in, "But we used to make all sorts of stuff down here, including the dynamite we blew it up with…" He laughed, "That happened right after I showed up, and come on, you can't tell me that wasn't _fun _getting down here,"

Weiss huffed, "Alright fine, it was kind of _fun… _but it was hardly safe… A little more warning would have been nice!"

Otonashi laughed, leaning up against one of the taller piles of rubble, "Na… It's gotta be a surprise the first time,"

Weiss snorted derisively, but chuckled nonetheless, "Yes, clearly that's why _you were the one _getting smashed…"

"I'm out of practice," he admitted with a grin, "And whatever that magic circle… _thing _you did… I don't know how you pulled that off, but it's _so cheating,_"

"Cheating? Ha! I'd be a disgrace as a Huntress if I couldn't use my semblance in a tight spot!" She objected.

"Semblance?" Otonashi raised an eyebrow.

"It stems from your aura," Weiss elaborated, trying to bring him to recognition on his own, "You know, the outward manifestation of the soul… I guess since you weren't going to be a huntsman… but seriously, you've never heard of any of this?"

"No…" Otonashi shook his head, "Where I'm from, people only do things like that on TV…"

Weiss just stared at him, "No Huntsman or Huntresses… No Grimm… Just where did you live?"

"Uh… Japan…"

"Never heard of it," Weiss was forced to admit, "Have you ever heard of the Kingdoms of Vale, Atlas, Mistral, or Vacule?"

"No.. can't say I have…"

Weiss' expression furrowed, "The plot thickens…"

Otonashi shrugged, "Don't worry about it too much; I was never the best student, I've probably never heard of those places because I never paid attention in geography," He leaned a little more on the pile of rubble, "But I knew it would be a good idea to take you through here; It's the first time I've seen you smile,"

To her great surprise, Weiss realized that it was indeed so, "I… I guess I am… Oh my God, Otonashi, look out!" her expression went from pensive contemplation to panicked surprise before finally settling on determination as she called up a glyph to catch the freshly dislodged and collapsing debris, and simultaneously launching Otonashi forward with a repulsion glyph so as to get him out of the way.

"Ow…"

"Perhaps coming down here wasn't such a good idea," Weiss stated dryly as she let the glyphs dissipate and the rubble bury the space in which Otonashi had been standing, "And leaning on piles of debris certainly wasn't,"

"Thanks," Otonashi groaned as he got up off his stomach and dusted himself off, "But maybe a little gentler next time?"

"Whatever," Weiss rolled her eyes, "Do you have to go through another obstacle course to leave too?"

"No, we can shut off the traps from here; the switch survived the blasting, fortunately, but first…" he bent down scooping up a handful of dirt, and to Weiss' shock, the dusty earth transmuted before her eyes into a white ball with red stitches, "Catch"

"Gah!" Weiss recoiled at suddenly having the thing thrown at her, instinctively protecting herself with a glyph large enough to shield her whole body, causing the baseball to plink harmlessly of and fall back to the dirt from whence it came, "Are you trying to _kill me? _Is that some kind of bomb or something?" she demanded, before realizing her circumstances, and therefore the absurdity of her accusation, "I… what is this? And how did you make it?"

Otonashi couldn't stifle his cacophonous laughter, "It's… It's just a baseball!"

"A what?"

Otonashi stared at her for a moment, but eventually went on to explain, "You throw it back and forth to play catch… If you've got a bat and a bunch of other players, you can play baseball with it…"

"Oh…" Weiss replied, somewhat embarrassed, "I never was much for sports… but again, how did you _make it though? _I mean, you just picked up _dirt…_"

"I couldn't tell you," he shrugged by way of admission, "But as long as it's an inanimate object, you can make pretty much whatever you want here… So long as you understand it's composition that is… Some of the others tried to build a giant cannon once, but it exploded…"

"Anything?" Weiss asked, a spark of interest in her voice.

"Pretty much," he nodded.

Weiss crouched, hand reaching down to the loose dirt at her feet, "So do I just… imagine it?"

"Yeah," Otonashi affirmed, interested to see what she'd try to make, "It's that simple; I don't know _why _it works like that, but that's all there is to it, really,"

Nodding her understanding, Weiss closed her eyes and concentrated. The soft dirt felt cool on her fingers; it was strange, though, as she would never have considered sticking her hands into the dirt before finding herself here, but the prospect of using it to create things was an appealing notion, if only so as to bring a semblance of familiarity to her present ordeal. Taking a deep breath, she closed her fingers around a fistful of the cool earth, visualizing what she wanted, and in the face of her doubts, it was so; as she stood again and opened her eyes, she drew Myrtenaster from the ground.

"It… it actually works!"

"You _did _just watch me make a baseball the same way…" Otonashi said, humoring her, "But um… why a _sword?_"

Weiss' right eye twitched slightly at the perhaps unwittingly condescending tone, but she didn't argue; he was right, "This is Myrtenaster, my weapon, and the tool of my trade as a huntress. Although…"

"But aren't guns better for hunting? Or maybe a bow?" He asked quizzically as Weiss bent down again to produce another object, "Wait… what's that?"

"This…" Weiss answered as she stood again, slotting the colorful vials into Myrtenaster's chambers, "is Dust; but then I suppose you haven't heard of _that _either, have you? This was what my family made our fortune on,"

"Um… dust? Really? Who would buy-,"

Before he could finish expressing his befuddlement, Weiss took a fencing stance and thrust the rapier forward, launching a fireball to explode upon a pile of debris some distance away, and then turned to Otonashi with a smirk, "I'm sorry, you were saying?"

"Just that I probably should have paid more attention in geography…"

* * *

"No, no, no! Straighten your posture, your leading foot needs to be farther forward!" Weiss berated after skewering Otonashi for the fifth time in as many minutes, "And keep the foil in front of you! What good will it do you over your head? You can't defend that way!"

Afteer the two of them had made their laborious climb back out of the Guild, Otonashi had insisted that they do something that Weiss enjoyed, so Weiss had produced a sword for him and they together set about the task of teaching him to fence. What followed had been a trainwreck; he had no tatural talent, and without the proper protective gear, each of her thrusts that connected quite literally impaled him, but still he persisted. He'd said that he wanted to see her smile again, but this was just making her feel guilty for the abuse to which he was allowing himself to be subjected to for the sake of making _her _feel margainally more at home.

"I'm sorry… This whole fencing thing's new to me; Closest thing I've done to this was kendo with Fujimaki… He kicked my ass too…"

"Fuji-who?" She relaxed her stance, lowering Myrtenaster.

"Fujimaki," he repeated gratefully relaxing as well, "He was kind of a jerk at first but, he was a nice guy once you got to know him,"

"Was he from your past life or…"

"Here," Otonashi confirmed, "At one point, there were actually quite a few of us here…"

"I see…"

"Eh.. Enough about that though, let's talk about _you,_" he changed the subject, "Like, where'd you learn all this? And how come you can control that… Dust… stuff?"

"I had the best tutors money could buy," she shrugged, "and the Dust… I just use my aura for that too… I suppose that explains why it just blew up in your face when you tried it though…"

"Yeah… I think we'll just call that whole trip eaven..."

"Agreed…" She sighed, but then resumed her stance, "En Garde!"

"Wait! Hold on! I'm not ready!" Otonashi scrambled to restore his own position, and even though she did wait for him to do so, he inevitably found himself clumsily trying and failing to swat Weiss's weapon away, "Ow…."

Weiss sighed again, with more exasperation this time, "I appreciate this, really, I do, but we don't have to keep this up… I imagine this is rather painful…"

"No… no…" Otonashi grunted, I once spent an entire day as the guanine-pig for a girl who wanted to perfect her _German suplex… _I can take this…"

Weiss wasn't buying it though, "But why? It doesn't make sense! I don't care if you can't die, getting _stabbed multiple times _has to be painful!"

"Well yeah but-,"

"But _nothing! _I'm not comfortable with the idea of hurting you for my amusement while you struggle with this!" She stared at the ground, "I was selfish enough in my old life…"

Otonashi couldn't but stare as she looked away; it just didn't make sense… "I don't… get it…"

"What's there to _get? _ She didn't look up, "I wasn't a great person in life, but I wasn't some kind of _monster… _I think… but then, I suppose I wouldn't…"

Otonashi dropped his foil and rushed over, putting a hand on each of her shoulders, "Don't think like that! You're not like that-,"

"And what would you know about me?" Weiss demanded, pushing him away.

"Would a monster feel guilt?"

"I…"

"you want to know why I'm still here?" Otonashi asked, not letting go "I'm still here because I fell in love here; Her name was Kanade Tachibana…" He gave a sad little chuckle, "She kind of looked like you,"

"I…"

"And you know why she was here?' It was a rhetorical question, "It was because she regretted not having had the chance to thank the donor for her heart transplant. That was it! I… If I had to guess… I wound up here so that _she _could move on… God knows she deserved it… Otherwise… Well… at the end…" He was getting choked up, "I was satisfied with my life…" Weiss could only stare, and she dropped Myrtenaster in shock as Otonashi continued, "_She made it her goal to help everyone pass on… _she wasn't always good at it, but she _tried…. _And after it was done, and it was just the two of us… _I was selfish _Weiss, you have no idea how selfish… I asked her if she would _stay here _with me to help anyone else who'd come here move on…"

"Oh my God… You…"

"I'm doing all this so _you _don't get stuck here like I am!" He was practically shouting now, "And I am _so sorry… _I didn't want to at first because I was so tired of being alone here but… but that's not what Kanade would've wanted… And it isn't fair to you. But you… I just don't know what to do! Everyone else wanted _more _out of their lives but…" He looked straight into Weiss' eyes, "Nobody ever thought that they _didn't deserve what they had…_"

"But I had I _so much… _and I wanted _more-," _

"So you weren't perfect? That just makes you human! Everybody wants things! And then there's that semblance thing.. You used that to protect people right? Even down there in the Guild! Was that selfish too? Because I don't think so!"

"Otonashi…"

"Call me Yuzuru…" He said, "My first name's Yuzuru…"

Weiss nodded, though still uncertain, "I'm not sure that I can believe that but… Thank you… And… Yuzuru?"

"Yeah?"

She looked up at him, placing her own hands on his shoulders and pulled away, "Don't you think you've done enough?"

"What?"

"Maybe I don't know all the details… but you helped all those people right? Don't you think maybe it's your turn?" She smiled sadly, "You shouldn't have to stay here forever…"

"Seriously?" He couldn't help a sad laugh, "What happened to that 'loneliest of all' song?"

Weiss' smile curled up a little bit more despite the welling tears, "I was… and I will be when you're gone, but knowing what I do.. do you think I could ever leave with you still here?"

"But-,"

"Apupup!" She silenced him with a finger to his lips, "None of that. Don't you think.. Kanade must be waiting for you?"

"…Kanade…"

"That's right," Weiss nodded, "Why don't you let me do my penance and finally let yourself move on?"

"I…"

"You want to help people?" She asked, "Then help _me… _and let go… so a selfish little girl knows it's not her fault that you can't move on…"

"I…" He relaxed and pulled her into a hug, "I guess so… I… Thanks.."

"Maybe I'll see you again," Weiss offered, returning the hug, "When it's my turn, but for now… For now you've earned the right to set aside your burden, wouldn't you say?"

"Okay… But before I go…" He dried his tears on his sleeve, "Promise me something,"

"Alright,"

"Forgive yourself, okay?" He said, "I don't know what you did, or didn't do, but if you wound up here… Well… the only thing that can keep you here is yourself, so… And between you and me… "

"Who am I going to tell? An NPC?" She chuckled, a little tear rolling down her cheek.

He smiled, "I don't think you're as selfich as you've convinced yourself you are; I mean, just look at us right now, you're trying to help _me _even though it means you'll be alone… So just… don't be too long okay?"

"…" She stepped back, "Alright, I'll work on it,"

Yuzuru Otonashi nodded, smiling, "Then I guess… I guess I'll be seeing you…"

* * *

Weiss Schnee woke up.

"Oh my God! Sis! She's awake! Call Blake and the others!" It was Yang's voice, bright with excitement.

Weiss blinked several times before she recognized the infirmary of Beacon academy, _What? How…_

She tried to sit up, but then Ruby was at her side, an expression somewhere between relief and panic on her face as she tried to get Weiss to lay back down, "Weiss! OhmyGoddon'tpushyourself-!"

Weiss' pride bubbled to the surface, but only for an instant, "Oh unhand me you-," She shook her head, "I… never mind… I'm sorry…"

Silver eyes blinked several times, head tilting to the side in perplexity, "You're… sorry? Uh… Who are you and what did you do with Weiss?"

That almost did it, "You complete-!" She sighed, "It's really me, Ruby,"

Ruby nearly tackled her back down onto the infirmary bed, "We were so worried!"

"I… I thought I was dead…"

Yang snorted, "We did too… Dammit Princess, don't scare us like that…"

"How long was I…?"  
"Better part of a week," Yang answered preemptively as Ruby continued to squeeze the air from Weiss' lungs in rejoice, "I mean seriously Princess, a _flock of Nevermores? _You don't just stand and _take that, _you run the _hell away!"_

"I… I'm sorry…"

Ruby glared at her sister, "Don't be so mean Yang! She was really brave…" Ruby turned back to Weiss, "But she _is right _Weiss… I was so scared that you wouldn't wake up…"

"It was all rather strange," Blake said as she walked into the room, "Your heart never quite stopped beating but… We couldn't get a read on your aura the whole time…"

Weiss' surprised attention snapped to her Raven-haired teammate, "What? You mean-,"

"It's almost like your soul wasn't in your body, Miss Schnee," Professor Ozpin walked in, closely followed by Professor Goodwitch and the members of Team JNPR, "You'll have to tell me about the experience some time."

"Um…"

"Easy Miss Schnee, don't strain yourself," Miss Goodwitch spoke now, "You'll have plenty of make-up work once you recover, so enjoy the time off while you have it,"

Ruby nodded emphatically, "For now you just need to get better, okay?"

"Better huh?" Weiss smiled wistfully, "Yeah, that sounds good… It'd be a shame to waste a second chance…"

"Huh?"

"Nothing"

_Hey Otonashi… I don't know if you can hear me but… Wherever you are… I did it… and I'm going to live life right this time. So… I might be a while but… a promis is a promis, yeah? _


End file.
